Trinity Church
Exploring Downtown
Trinity was founded as the Church of England’s parish church for colonial New York, and its charter issued in 1697 by King William III, appointed as rector the Lord Bishop of London. Despite Trinity’s Royal beginnings, however, the church’s later parishioners included several members of the first and second Continental Congresses, along with Francis Lewis – a signer of the Declaration of Independence – who is buried in the churchyard.
After the Revolutionary War, Trinity donated land for new streets to help rebuild a shattered New York. Street names reflecting the church’s presence include Vestry, Rector and Church, as well as Vesey and Barclay (named for two of Trinity’s early rectors) – and, of course Trinity Place. In that same spirit, Trinity Church has made countless contributions to New York’s well-being, including social programs for 19th-century immigrants, Depression-era soup kitchens and shelters for today’s homeless.
The first Trinity Church building perished in the Great Fire of 1776. Following the demolition of its successor in 1839, Trinity engaged English-born architect Richard Upjohn, who imagined the new Trinity as an idyllic English Gothic country church – his rendering shown above reveals no hint of Trinity’s location at one of the city’s busiest intersections.
Today, Trinity ranks as one of the finest Gothic Revival church buildings in America. Inside, Trinity shelters a treasure-house of 19th century religious art, including enormous bronze doors modeled after those of Ghiberti in the Baptistry in Florence, and the stunning blue and red stained-glass chancel window. Outside, churchyard monuments honor the memory of notable New Yorkers buried here, including first Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, steamship pioneer Robert Fulton, and William Bradford, founder of New York’s first newspaper, the New York Gazette.
Marker is at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street, on the right when traveling south on Broadway.
Courtesy hmdb.org
